SQL Community Discord Resources

SQL_Resources.md

SQL Community Discord Resource List

This content collected and curated for the SQL Discord, join us!

Table of Contents

• Share Code
• SQL Tutorials and Study Courses
• SQL Challenges
• Other Coding Challenges
• Diagramming and Normalization
• Useful links for creating Entity Relationship Diagrams, Schema Models, etc
• What aspect of SQL, Data, Analytics etc should I concentrate on?
• Recommended books
• Articles
• Video content on YouTube
• References for Specific Relational Database Management Systems
• The popularity contest
• Standardized date format (Objectively the best)
• Useful Explainer Images

Share Code

These tools allow you to create and share executable SQL queries:

https://dbfiddle.uk/

https://sqlfiddle.com/

SQL Tutorials and Study Courses

https://sqlzoo.net/

https://sqlbolt.com/

https://selectstarsql.com/

https://www.sqlcourse.com/

https://dataschool.com/learn-sql/

https://www.udemy.com/topic/sql/free/

https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-sql/

https://mode.com/sql-tutorial/introduction-to-sql/

https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/sql

https://mystery.knightlab.com/

https://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.asp

https://datalemur.com/sql-tutorial

https://www.learnsqlonline.org/

http://solhsa.com/galaxql.html

https://www.edx.org/learn/sql

https://learnsql.com/

https://www.sololearn.com/en/learn/courses/data-programming

https://www.sqltutorial.org/

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/sql/

Once you get through the basics, you may want to pick a particular platform to focus on. Common choices are Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, Postgres, etc.

SQL Challenges

https://datalemur.com/

https://www.codewars.com/kata/sql/

https://www.hackerrank.com/domains/sql/

https://leetcode.com/problemset/database/

https://www.stratascratch.com/

Other Coding Challenges

https://projecteuler.net/

https://exercism.org/tracks/

https://www.codingame.com/start/

Diagramming and Normalization

https://dbdiagram.io/home/

https://arctype.com/blog/er-diagram/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQaEYEc8_8

Useful links for creating Entity Relationship Diagrams, Schema Models, etc

https://www.dbdesigner.net/

https://dbdiagram.io/home

https://draw.io/

What aspect of SQL, Data, Analytics etc should I concentrate on?

This is exactly why it's best to "dabble around" at first and feel out the different aspects of working with data, so you can find where you would most like to spend your time and efforts later. You won't discover that until you get your hands on a little bit of everything. Learn a little DBA stuff, some database design stuff, some ETL, how to use tools like Excel and PowerBI, how transactional systems differ in needs from analytical systems, make reports, charts, hell make an application in python or VB or something that connects to the database and reads some data out. Read a lot. Ask questions. Touch things. Break them. Fix them. You will come out on the other side knowing who you are and where you want to go next. For now, just jump in the pool somewhere. https://discord.com/channels/698642420497383504/698642858885906494/1172608094765850674

Recommended books:

SQL Basics

• T-SQL Fundamentals by Itzik Ben-Gan
• Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties: Advanced SQL Programming by Joe Celko
• A Visual Introduction to SQL by Chappell and Trimble
• Learn SQL The Hard Way
• The Art of PostgreSQL by Dimitri Fontaine
• Exam Ref 70-762 Developing SQL Databases 1st Edition by Davidson and Varga
• Exam Ref 70-761 Querying Data with Transact-SQL 1st by Itzik Ben-Gan

Transaction Processing

• Transactional Information Systems by Gerhard Weikum and Gottfried Vossen
• Transaction Processing by Seppo Sippu and Elijas Soisalon-Soininen
• Principles of Transaction Processing by Philip Bernstein, Eric Newcomer
• Transaction Processing by Jim Gray and Andreas Reuter

Database Systems

• Fundamentals of Database Systems 7th edition by Elmasri and Navathe
• Database System Concepts 7th Edition (Kindle edition) by Silberschatz
• An Introduction to Database Systems 8th edition by CJ Date
• Database: Principles, Programming, and Performance by O'Neil and O'Neil

Data Warehousing

• The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional Modeling 3rd Edition - the Kimball/Ross Classic, a widely known and highly regarded standard reference text on data modeling
• Data Mining: Concepts and Techniques by Han, Pei, and Tong
• Data Warehousing and Analytics by David Taniar and Wenny Rahayu

Database Design and Modeling

• Database Design 2nd Edition (online textbook) by Adrienne Watt
• Pro SQL Server Relational Database Design and Implementation: Best Practices for Scalability and Performance 6th ed. Edition by Davidson
• Developing High Quality Data Models by Matthew West
• Beginning Database Design by Clare Churcher
• Data Modeling Essentials by Graeme Simsion and Graham Witt

Database Internals

• Database Design and Implementation by Edward Sciore
• Understanding MySQL Internals by Sasha Pachev
• MySQL Internals Manual by Oracle
• Database Internals by Alex Petrov
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Internals by Delaney, Beauchemin, Cunningham, Kehayias, et al
• Oracle Core by Jonathan Lewis

Administration and Performance

• SQL Server Execution Plans by Grant Fritchey
• MySQL 8 Query Performance Tuning: A Systematic Method for Improving Execution Speeds - by Krogh
• Pro Oracle Database 23c Administration by Michelle Malcher and Darl Kuhn
• Pro SQL Server 2022 Administration by Peter Carter

Articles

• Relational Databases Aren’t Dinosaurs, They’re Sharks
• Type Coercion and Precision in SQL
• List of Sample Data Options
• ETL Reference
• OLTP vs OLAP
• Ten Characteristics of a Modern Data Architecture
• But NOLOCK Is Okay When My Data Isn’t Changing, Right? NO IT IS NOT.
• Why gender is not a bit column
• SQL JOINs are not well explained by venn diagrams
• Problems with AI
• Problems with AI, Again
• SQLServerFast - A Reference
• Use The Index Luke: A SQL Indexing and Tuning e-Book

Video content on YouTube:

• Normalization
• Database by Doug Youtube Channel - a variety of useful topics in a playlist
• Database Keys
• Azure SQL for beginners - Official Microsoft playlist
• Database management basics and SQL using the MySQL RDBMS
• Playlist aggregation of many database-related lectures
• T-SQL: Bad Habits and Best Practices with Aaron Bertrand
• Introduction to Relational Data Model
• Intro to Database Systems - Carnegie Mellon University 2019
• Getting started with MySQL
• How to Think Like the SQL Server Engine - Original
• How to Think Like the SQL Server Engine - New Expanded Edition
• Introduction to Set Theory
• Predicate Logic
• Microsoft SQL Server Statistics, A Playlist
• EightKB SQL Server Internals Confererence Playlists
• Advanced SQL Server Design - Hugo Kernelis
• Animated Query Plans for the Visual Learner - Forrest McDaniel
• Think like a Terminator. Internals of Classic SQL Server Indexes - Slava Murygin
• Inside the VertiPaq Engine - Marco Russo
• Scaling SQL Server beyond two CPU's - Thomas Grohser
• Carnegie Mellon University Database Group Playlists
• Chris Tuttle The Singing Tech Professor

References for Specific Relational Database Management Systems

MySQL

https://www.mysqltutorial.org/

SQLite

• A guided introduction to SQLite

Postgres

https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/

https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Developer_FAQ#Where_can_I_get_a_copy_of_the_SQL_standards.3F

http://www.interdb.jp/pg/pgsql01.html

Oracle

https://www.oracletutorial.com/

http://philip.greenspun.com/sql/

SQL Server

• MS SQL Server quick start on your home PC
• Concerns about the use of MERGE
• Windows 11 installation issues
• Cool powershell tools
• SQLi Protection - Official Microsoft resource on writing good code to avoid malicious attacks
• SQL Server Workshops by MS
• Brent Ozar
• Darling Data
• sp_whoisactive tool
• SQL Server Maintenance Solution

The popularity contest

https://db-engines.com/en/ranking

Standardized date format (Objectively the best)

https://xkcd.com/1179/

Useful Explainer Images